Clarion Content

Looking for a couple of good sports articles this Sunday morning?

We have got a pair. (NO pun intended.)


Will this man look more familiar one day?


First, how about Tiger Woods playing before the smallest galleries of his professional career? After a tremendous storm passed through Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland Friday night, Saturday's round was played with only essential volunteers and family/entourage members permitted on course. Tiger played in front of less than 100 people. No camera clicking in his backswing yesterday. Third round leader Brendon de Jonge, made a gorgeous birdie on the twelfth, seen by exactly one spectator, fellow player, Hunter Mahan's wife.

Unbelievable. Read the whole story here from the Associated Press.

Our next story is a follow on to our NBA draft coverage. Great job, by the by, from our friends at The Eastside Perspective finding highlights on all the potential first round picks. Here we want to refer to an interesting link discussing the best players not drafted Thursday night.

At the top of Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo Sports list is West Virginia's Kevin Jones, a second-team All-American last season who scored 19.9 pts per game while shooting over 50% from the field and grabbing almost 11 rebounds per game. Pretty darn good, right? NBA scouts labeled him a tweener at 6' 8". He went undrafted.

The player who tops the Clarion Content's list of "Most likely to Succeed" of the undrafted is Scott Machado of Iona. As a senior he averaged 9.9 assists per game on a lowly Iona team and shot over 40% from three-point land. The next Jeremy Lin? Read the whole article here.

Labels: college basketball, golf, interesting links, NBA, sports

NBA Mock Draft 2012: Picks 11-30

courtesy of: the East Side Perspective

As many of you know we have joined forces with the East Side Perspective, an up and coming sports and culture website published in Chapel Hill.

For even more sports articles from the East Side Perspective, check here.

These are The Eastside Perspective's projections for this year's NBA Draft.

If you missed Part I of their NBA Mock Draft 2012: Picks 1-10, check it out here.

2012 Draft Wildcard: The HOUSTON ROCKETS' Action Plan...

Pick#11 - Portland Trail Blazers - Tyler Zeller - North Carolina
Pro - Runs the floor, 8-foot turn around jump hook, Help defense
Con - Strength, Uses left hand well




Pick#12 - Milwaukee Bucks - Dion Waiters - Syracuse
Pro - Shooting, Speed, Length
Con - Undersized SG, Passing




Pick#13 - Phoenix Suns - Kendall Marshall - North Carolina
Pro - Passing, Court vision/Awareness
Con - 1-on-1 Defense




Pick#14 - Houston Rockets - Jeremy Lamb - Connecticut
Pro - 15-18 foot jump shot, Extreme upside potential
Con - Strength, undersized




Pick#15 - Philadelphia 76ers - Perry Jones III - Baylor
Pro - Size, Speed, Athleticism, Rebounding
Con - Emotional issues and Leadership abilities, Low-post skills




Pick#16 - Houston Rockets - Meyers Leonard - Illinois
Pro - Size, Speed, Athleticism, Unselfish
Con - Post skills, Inconsistent desire and motor




Pick#17 - Dallas Mavericks - Terrence Ross - Washington
Pro - Athleticism, Passing, Size
Con - Ball-handling, Defense



Pick#18 - Minnesota Timberwolves - Jared Sullinger - Ohio State
Pro - Post Offense, Strength, Rebounding ability
Con - Defense, Speed, Athleticism




Pick#19 - Orlando Magic - Arnett Moultrie - Mississippi State
Pro - Athleticism, Size, Offensive Post Up, Shot Blocking
Con - Defense in the Lane




Pick#20 - Denver Nuggets - Andrew Nicholson - St.Bonaventure
Pro - Jump Shot, Speed, Size
Con - Rebounding




Pick#21 - Boston Celtics - Moe Harkless - St. John's
Pro - Potential, Quick feet defensively
Con - Passing




Pick#22 - Boston Celtics - Royce White - Iowa State
Pro - Rebounding ability, Strength, Speed
Con - Jump Shot, Trouble with the law




Pick#23 - Atlanta Hawks - Tony Wroten - Washington
Pro - Passing, Size, Speed
Con - Jumper




Pick#24 - Cleveland Cavaliers - Quincy Miller - Baylor
Pro - Size, 12-15 foot jump shot
Con - Speed and Strength




Pick#25 - Memphis Grizzlies - Will Barton - Memphis
Pro - Ability to finish around the rim, Shooting from or near the perimeter
Con - Strength




Pick#26 - Indiana Pacers - John Jenkins - Vanderbilt
Pro - Shooting from beyond the perimeter, Brings leadership, Quick release
Con - Size, Defense




Pick#27 - Miami Heat - Festus Ezeli - Vanderbilt
Pro - Post Defense, strength
Con - Speed, Not much upside potential, Difficult name to pronounce




Pick#28 - Oklahoma City Thunder - Evan Fournier - France
Pro - Passing, Ball-handling, Size
Con - Athleticism




Pick#29 - Chicago Bulls - Doron Lamb - Kentucky
Pro - Spot-up shooting
Con - Size, Potential




Pick#30 - Golden State Warriors - Draymond Green - Michigan St.
Pro - Intangibles-game (Somehow it works REALLY well!), Leadership, Rebounding ability
Con - Future potential, Size

Labels: college basketball, NBA, Predictions, sports

We caught this strange and ugly scene on Bill Simmons vehicle, Grantland. Georgetown University and a local Chinese team, against whom they are playing an exhibition game, got in an ugly bench clearing brawl. It lasted less than a minute, but the visuals are disturbing. The crowd boos and throws plastic water bottles when the Georgetown team exits the court. Grantland links to the Washington Post's article here, which reads like a wire report: making no attempt at explanation or understanding. Just the facts ma'am.



Was there anything else going on beyond a roughly contested basketball game here? Anything regionally or locally that was relevant? Was their a strain of anti-Americanism here?



America ought be very careful about pissing off the Chinese holders of almost all of our sovereign debt.

Labels: college basketball, Ethically questionable, Politics, sports

This coach is in the title game for a second year in a row...

There was a strange dichotomy in the two NCAA Final Four games played last night. In game one, there were two gritty, mid-major teams that few expected to be there. In game two, there were a couple of storied programs with long but sordid histories. It made for a strange rooting dynamic, in game one we felt sad that one of these gallant underdogs had to lose. In game two, we felt perturbed one of those cheaters was going to win.

Who do you root for one when on one bench is a coach who has had to vacate both of his previous two Final Four appearances and on the other side is a coach who the NCAA has cited for multiple violations, including lack of institutional control? Blech.

The narrative was undermined and we predict the television ratings reflect it.

Labels: college basketball, Ethically questionable, NCAA, Predictions, television

The college basketball season, as viewed from here, is the perfect length. It starts to move to the front burner the week after the Super Bowl ends. This year Super Bowl XLV, or forty-five to those of you who don't speak Roman, was played on Sunday, February 6th. The Final Four will be played this weekend, Saturday, April 2nd. An intense eight weeks, spine-tinglingly exciting, it fits and feels right.

By the time we tune in fully to college basketball, it is the heart of the conference season, internecine rivalries and battles. It is a short four weeks then, bang, into the conference tournaments. There is very little competition from other sports during this time of year. Baseball is still in Spring Training. The NBA and NHL are slogging their way through eighty game seasons. Golf has yet to have a major. While, college basketball is at a fever pitch for the whole eight week season we follow.

Conference tournament week, around the middle of March is a phenomenal lead into the Big Dance. All of those conference tourney games are potentially single elimination. VCU has made the best case possible for expanding the NCAA tournament. Any school that lost one game too early in their conference tournament is looking at VCU and thinking, we could have been them. Who is to say what would have happened had Alabama been permitted into an expanded field? Alabama beat Final Four participant Kentucky and is in the NIT Final...to state just one hypothetical.

An expanded NCAA tourney can only make the college basketball season better. They could lop off a week of regular season games or add a week to the Big Dance. VCU has already proven how stiff and deep the competition is. The NCAA tournament, Final Four weekend and Championship Monday, end in excellent synchronicity with the start of baseball season (which is still too early, witness the snow descending on the upcoming opening MLB weekend). The NBA playoffs ramp-up at just about the same time.

The net, net, pun intended, college basketball fills its niche between the end of the NFL season and the start of baseball season perfectly. Expanding the tournament can only increase the excitement. We can't wait for the Final Four games this weekend.

Labels: baseball, college basketball, sports

VCU and Alabama, enough said. It is time for 128.

Labels: college basketball, NCAA, sports, Sports Economics

We tweeted about it last night, asking what were the opening odds on VCU to win the tournament? A little bit of research has revealed that VCU was part of what the casinos label "The Field" bet, a group of nineteen teams where any one of them winning paid 200 to 1.

Jay Kornegay, executive director of the race and sports book at the Las Vegas Hilton said, "I've been doing this for 22 years, I can't remember a field team making it to the Final Four." But apparently there was not much action at that point, supposedly the bets that are really poised to hurt Vegas if VCU wins the tournament were made just before the Sweet Sixteen. At that point, VCU had beaten Georgetown and Purdue. Vegas offered new odds on each Sweet Sixteen participant to win their tournament and set VCU winning the title at 80 to 1. Word is they took some big money action. Now they are worried.

Kentucky is the 8 to 5 favorite of books looking at the four teams left. VCU, if one were to hop at their bandwagon at this late date, only pays 13 to 2. My, my what a long way they have come.

Labels: college basketball, sports

These guys look familiar...

By request, the Clarion Content is not posting our Final Four predictions. The jinx of our pick is too renown. We are laying low as far as that goes, but we did want to give you, dear readers, a few quick thoughts.

One: Overrated! As in the Big 10 is overrated. Penn State, please! They wouldn't have been able to finish in the top twelve teams in the Big East. Wisconsin, a paper tiger, who made their rep on one big homecourt win this season. They beat then #1 Ohio State. This says more about Ohio State than Wisconsin. The Badgers best out of conference win? They beat the 11th best team in the Big East, Marquette. We don't expect a first round loss from Wisconsin, but hey, you never know. And we would be shocked if Ohio State won its regional, with the likes of Carolina and Syracuse waiting in the weeds.

Two: The play-in games and sixty-eight teams are a farce. None of the play-in teams is going anywhere, all the more reason why we do not need to hear the carping from near misses, Colorado and Virginia Tech. Have you heard the conspiracy theory making the rounds? It has some appeal. The committee is deliberately screwing the bubble teams to build momentum for an expansion to a one-hundred and twenty-eight team tournament. As Coach Knight has noted, it is only one more game for each team, but it is a boatloads more revenue for the NCAA. Colorado and Virginia Tech, both of whom have switched conferences in pursuit of the all mighty dollar in recent years, will be highly motivated to grouse.

Three: True TV? Barkely and Kenny in the studio on TNT? Come on! We love Sir Charles and Kenny Smith's witty repartee as much as the next guy, but there are dudes on bar stools all over the country who have watched waaay more college basketball the Kenny and Charles this year. Spare us.

One final thought, absent the Indiana and the Hoosiers, we can only say, "Let's go Duke!"

Labels: college basketball, sports

Harvard Coach Tommy Ammaker learned from the best...

The Clarion Content was on this story many moons ago. Duke alum, Tommy Ammaker, and his Harvard Crimson, have a shot at the school's first Ivy League Men's Basketball title in 100 years of competition. They are the only one of Harvard thirty-four varsity sports not to have won a single league title. They are the antithesis of Jack Nicklaus, having finished second only twice in school history. Once was under Coach Ammaker, with a star, who has since matriculated to the NBA, Jeremy Lin.

This year Coach Ammaker's squad is the youngest in the Ivy League. With wins in their remaining games against league pillars Penn and Princeton, this team can do something never accomplished in the history of Harvard basketball. The New York Times quotes the coach, "I’m not sure you can walk anywhere on this campus and find something that hasn’t been done before," Amaker told the Times this week. "But we are on the verge of doing it."

Read the whole story here.

Labels: college basketball, Duke, sports

The Duke Blue Devils backed into the #1 ranking in the land this weekend when the four teams ahead of them lost. However, last night Duke took a much more definite step forward when the Most Outstanding Player at last year's Final Four finally exploded. Much like the beginning of last season, Duke's Kyle Singler has battled to find his place in the offense. Singler has rotated over the course of his career between center, power forward and wing player, depending on the needs of the team.

This year, like last year, as the team has grown around him, Singler has been willing to sublimate his own game to let others develop theirs. About this time last year Brian Zubek's emergence as a defensive and rebounding presence helped clearly define Singler's role and led to Duke's run.

Last night, against a banged up Temple squad, Singler exploded for twenty-eight points without the benefit of a single three-point shot. Temple Coach Fran Dunphy said, "He was just not to be denied."

Singler humbly noted, "The bigs were actually passing the ball to me, so I got good post entries and ... just kept getting the ball and putting it back up."

Has the Duke offense turned a corner?

Labels: college basketball, Duke, sports

The Clarion Content has long been a vocal opponent of ACC expansion. We do not believe in diluting one's core brand, in this case outstanding basketball, for the vain hope of improvement in something that has never been a core competency, football. The ACC has been a classic case for our point of view. The new schools (Va Tech excepted) have not made the ACC any better at football. In fact, the ACC has dragged Florida State and Miami, once perennial college football powers, down to its level of mediocrity.

Now the second stage is kicking in, loss of focus has gradually damaged ACC basketball. The last two years of ACC basketball, save at the very top of the conference, have been some of the weakest ACC basketball in its history. More than once, a .500 record in league play has not been good enough to qualify an ACC team for the Big Dance. In the league's heyday, as the nation's premier basketball conference, that never would have happened. This year, the ACC is even worse.

For the first time since the poll's inception, the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll this week has not only just one ranked ACC team, #1 Duke, but beyond that, not a single other ACC team so much as received votes. None. That had never happened before; Duke stands alone. How the mighty have fallen!

Labels: college basketball, college football, Duke, sports

The internet digs some stuff up, and there is no surer check on power than freedom of information. In this case, something we had not seen before surfaced on the internet (via Twitter) and made us feel compelled to admit we may have gotten it wrong.

The Clarion Content has long defended Latrell Spreewell when it came to the choking of Coach P.J. Carlesimo. There were three primary reasons for this, one legitimate, the other two emotional. First the reasonable one; one of our editors spent significant time in Newark while and shortly after P.J. was coaching at Seton Hall. His reputation as a dick was widespread in the community, especially in the local service industry. He was said to be impolite and a poor tipper. Word was he screamed and cursed at his players; and if he was a jerk to the servers, well it was believable.

The second reason is that same editor attended Indiana University during the Bobby Knight era. Our editor has always believed and continues to believe that the Neil Reed, "Coach Knight Choked Me" incident was a bunch of bullshit. All the video evidence suggests Knight hardly touched the kid, who both later transferred and picked the most self-serving moment to make his much delayed complaint.

Third, that same editor was and is a Knicks fan, who delighted in Spreewell's play on the court.

Reason number three is ridiculous. Reason number two is irrelevant.

What surfaced on the internet to change our mind about the incident in general was a photograph of Carlesimo's neck after the incident. Knight barely touched crybaby Neil Reed, but this photo of Carlesimo's neck tells a much different story, about a much different level of violence, a level of violence that is unsupportable in response to verbal abuse.

If the photo is not a fake, there is no justification for the level of violence Spreewell obviously used. We always thought it was nowhere near this malevolent.

Labels: college basketball, Ethically questionable, NBA, NCAA, sports

It has long been the Clarion Content's contention that America hates the whistleblower. It is one of the tragedies inherent in capitalism. The whistleblower is viewed as a downer, a party-pooper, somebody who refuses to get with the program.

We have another poignant, sad, story of a whistleblower who would not do what the program wanted her to do, specifically the State University of New York at Binghamton's basketball program wanted her to do. Change player's grades to make them eligible to compete. The New York Times reports that Sally Dear, an adjunct lecturer at the university, said the fallout of the scandal had deeply wounder her and continued to affect her. She has stated publicly that she received so much pressure to change her grading policy for basketball players that it bordered on harassment.

As the scandal has enveloped the university how has it played out?

The university paid a $1.2 million settlement to former basketball coach Kevin Broadus to resign. Broadus will receive $819,115 from the Binghamton athletic department and $380,884 from the general fund of the State University of New York. The payment exceeds the value of Broadus’s remaining contract and requires him to withdraw the racial discrimination lawsuit he filed in March and to relinquish his right to any other claims against the university.

Professor Dear? No million dollar payments to her for calling the basketball program on its cheating. Instead, she said in a recent telephone interview with the NY Times that she has not been assigned to teach classes next semester. Punished.

During Coach Broadus's brief tenure six players were dismissed from the team, including one who was busted selling crack. One player was allowed in consecutive semester's to take sixteen and then twelve credits of Physical Education, when the maximum in the second semester should have been two credits. The scandal forced the university's Provost to step down.

How does Professor Dear feel about all of this mess? She told the NY Times, "This is why people don’t blow the whistle. I understand. In my heart and in my gut and every fiber of my being I understand why people don’t blow the whistle, why people are afraid to tell the truth. My life has been a living hell since all this took place."

Labels: college basketball, corruption, Ethically questionable, NCAA

What do these two guys have in common? ........Zero titles.

Our advice? Don't believe the hype!

Here are the two best from Bill Simmons's huge batch of LeBron related emails:

"My friend Max's reaction to the LeBron special and signing: "This country was founded upon the practice of defying egotistical kings."

"You know how happy Carrie looked at the prom? And when the pig's blood was dumped on her you couldn't help but empathize? And when she went on her rampage you were actually kinda rooting for her? That's how I feel about the city of Cleveland right now."

As for the draft, John Wall can't defend, isn't that big, does not have a great outside shot, can't play the pick and roll game yet, and has been troubled throughout his short career, but he is the next big thing? We think not. The mentalist, DeMarcus Cousins, has an equally good chance to star as the uber-quick, but nothing else, John Wall.

Then again, there is nothing like getting your NBA tutelage from real pros like Gilbert Arenas, so maybe it will go well for Wall.

Labels: college basketball, NBA, sports, Sports Economics

Coach Cal heads out on the recruiting trail

They are what we thought they were, as a famous football coach once intoned about an opponent. And the same is true of Kentucky basketball, they are what we thought they were. They are mercenaries to the core, Calipari and his crew of very likely already highly paid players. The University of Kentucky, a program with a long history of cheating and morally repugnant behavior once again showed its true colors yesterday.

Five Kentucky undergrads declared for the NBA draft, including four freshman. Articles covering the story never once mention the word degree. As if there was no expectation (correct) that any of these players were ever enrolled at the university with the intention of earning a degree. These were highly paid university employees unpaid serfs who brought the athletic department (but likely not the library) tons of money. Worse, not only is the institution degraded, which is hard to do in a place as unseemly as Kentucky, but the kids themselves were not well-served.

John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins will likely be high NBA draft picks. Patrick Patterson will probably be a tail end of the first round kid. But freshman guard Eric Bledsoe and freshman center Daniel Orton, pu-leeze? Bledsoe averaged 11.3 points a game, when defenses keyed so much on his back court mate that they barely guarded him. Orton hit for a token 3.4 points and 3.3 rebounds in the SEC!?! Coach Cal advised these kids to turn pro? Why? Does he have better one and dones coming and so that he is ready to send them on to the NBDL? Surely, it is not because they have done all the developing they can do. But at Kentucky the attitude is, who cares? Academics is a farce, the kids get used, the boosters get great seats and have a good time. All is well.

They are who we thought they were. Sleep tight Coach Cal, you're a real good guy.

Labels: college basketball, Ethically questionable, NCAA

The NBA contenders and playoff bound teams have been stockpiling University of North Carolina Tar Heels.


Among the fistful of Tar Heels acquired by playoff contenders, Antawn Jamison stands tall.

It started with the Boston Celtics off-season signing of Rasheed Wallace and the Orlando Magic's marquee addition of Vince Carter. It peaked with the deadline deal made by the Eastern Conference leading Cleveland Cavaliers for Antawn Jamison. In between, Jerry Stackhouse joined the Milwaukee Bucks, who are surging through the East, 15 and 2 in their last seventeen. Late blooming center Brendan Haywood was traded the Dallas Mavericks, who have climbed the Western Conference standings from middle of the pack, to neck and neck with the Denver Nuggets for the two seed. One other Tarheel who was not moved this year, but figures to make a big impact for a contender, is Atlanta's Marvin Williams. Williams has been steadily filling out physically and rounding out his game. The Hawks mix of veterans and youth make them a dangerous match-up for anybody.

But which Tarheel does the Clarion Content expect to have the biggest impact came playoff time? Can we count Vince Carter's impending mega-flop? No? Guess we will go with Antwan Jamison then, who appears to fit nicely along side LeBron in Cleveland.

Labels: college basketball, NBA, Predictions, sports

If what you see is what you get, it is no surprise then that the uber-talented Kentucky Wildcats ended their NCAA tournament run short of title last night in Syracuse, NY. They played the role of John Calipari coached team to perfection. The only difference between this Wildcat squad and Calipari's most talented teams of the past is that five or six years from now instead of vacating a Final Four, ala U. Mass and Memphis, Kentucky basketball will only be vacating an Elite Eight season.

Kentucky folded just the way Coach Cal's cream of the crop teams always have. This is what happens when your starting five couldn't break 40 on the Wonderlic Test if you added all of their scores together. Coach Cal, you reap what you sow. Just like Memphis and U Mass, on the biggest of stages they couldn't hit their free throws. Just like other Calipari coached (we use the term loosely) teams, when faced with a creative defensive scheme they had no plan and no clue. West Virginia Coach Bob Huggins, no saint himself, leader of more than one 0.00 GPA team, had his players in a 1-3-1 zone after every made basket. Kentucky's guards frustrated by their inability to penetrate, unable to run an offense, just kept jacking up threes. No matter that they weren't going in, Coach Cal had no other plan, so fire away. 0 for your first 20 threes, keep shooting...

On the flip side, on their defensive end, a lack of fundamentals and brains finished the Wildcats. "What's that, the other team is running an offense? With cuts? And screens? Unfair! How we supposed to stop that?" And they couldn't. West Virginia reserve Joe Mazzulla scored 17 points and his team finished off Kentucky in the second half getting numerous easy lay-ups off of curls and backdoor cuts.

And so West Virginia returns to the Final Four for the first time since the logo, Jerry West, led them there, and Kentucky with their highly paid cast of stop-bys, better known as one and dones, starts over. Who knows if Wall, Cousins, et. al. attend another class before heading to the NBA. The boosters will have to breakout the ATM cards to recruit a new set of one and dones for old Coach Calipari.

Hey Kentucky, "Good night, now!!!"

Labels: college basketball, sports

If your bracket looks like that of the Clarion Content's sports editor than you are probably already finished in your office pool. Well, a local Durham reader and Duke fan alerted us to a story about a boy who is doing just the opposite. A seventeen year-old student at Glenbrook South High School in Glenview, Illinois hit both of the first two rounds of his NCAA Tournament bracket 100% correct. His name is Alex Herrmann. Young Mr. Herrmann is autistic. His bracket is on CBS Sportsline. Experts estimate the odds of picking the first two rounds of the NCAA bracket perfectly at over 13 million to one. ESPN's website is currently hosting 4.78 million 2010 NCAA tournament bracket entries none of which got 100% correct.

Nice work, kid.

Labels: college basketball, Predictions, sports

The redoubtable Jon Scheyer

The Clarion Content is an unabashed supporter of Duke basketball and Coach Mike Krzyzewski. We root for Duke. At the beginning of the season the Clarion Content thought, like many other Duke supporters and members of the sports media, that Duke was a good team, but by no means one of the very best Duke teams in Coach K's illustrious history.

The Blue Devils proceeded to have a remarkable season, going 28-5 and sharing the ACC regular season title. The Blue Devils look like a lock for at least a #2 seed in the NCAA tournament, and possibly even a #1 if they can win the ACC tournament final today. Does this mean that they are better than we and the so-called experts thought at the beginning of the season?

For the Clarion Content, the answer is no. This has been one of Coach K's very best coaching jobs. He has gotten the maximum out of this squad. Nolan Smith has developed wonderfully. Kyle Singler has adjusted to his new role. Brian Zoubek has grown by leaps and bounds. But in our view, the heart and soul of the team has been guard Jon Scheyer. Scheyer has been a stalwart all season, he carried the team through the early stretches of the schedule while Singler was adapting to his new position. Scheyer leads the Duke team in both minutes and scoring.

We wonder, however, as the NCAA tournament is about to begin, is Jon Scheyer wearing down? Our answer is an unqualified yes, and that response is at the core of our thinking that says this team is what we thought it was. We would be very surprised to see Duke get past the Elite 8. We would not be shocked by a loss in the Sweet Sixteen.

Scheyer, who has been playing 36 minutes plus per game since the beginning of the season, has continued to get those minutes and more over the final ten games of the year. Unfortunately, his scoring has dropped a bit, and worse his shooting percentage has fallen dramatically. This is frequently a sign of fatigue, wear and tear, tired legs, especially in a terrific, high percentage shooter like Scheyer.

Going into today's ACC final against Georgia Tech, Scheyer had averaged about a point per game below his season average over the last ten. But that was misleadingly augmented by an outstanding performance in the first UNC game. Scheyer has actually failed to reach his season average of points per game in five out of the last eight contests. Worse, only twice in the last ten games has Scheyer matched his season long average for field goal percentage. Scheyer's field goal percentage over the last ten games is a troubling 34.6%. In four of his last eight games, Scheyer hasn't hit even 30% of his field goals.

It is an ominous sign for Duke that their best player, their glue guy, is worn out. It is one of the main reasons why the Clarion Content thinks Duke will be long by the time they are playing the Final Four.

Labels: college basketball, Duke, Predictions, sports

Although the Clarion Content is tepidly in favor of expanding the NCAA basketball tournament, the best quote we have heard about whether or not to expand was actually from a voice opposed to expansion.

"Isn't this whole thing a window into society? We've diminished so many other things. We've diminished test scores. We've diminished admission policies. We diminish so much for reasons that are not accentuating excellence and performance."---Davidson Head Coach, Bob McKillop

Wonderful insight, coach. Yes, this thing is a window into society. It is another reason the Clarion Content has been toying with a theory we like to call, "Is America the new Soviets?" An equally fascinating trend, that is occurring at the same time as the one Coach McKillop pointed out, this faux-inflation that is really devaluing, is the belittling of second place: win or be considered a failure. Neither of these trends is healthy for American society. Sports is but the place where they are most evident. It is symbolic of a cultural erosion that is weakening American society.

Labels: college basketball, Ethically questionable, NCAA, sports, Sports Economics